President Joe Biden bragged last week about his administration’s plans to build a solar farm in Africa that U.S. taxpayers are funding a $900 million loan for.
Biden’s boast occurred during a speech Wednesday, hosted by the League of Conservation Voters, in which he promoted his administration’s energy and environmental policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a seemingly non-existent railroad from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean and “one of the largest solar plants in the world” in Angola. RELATED: Biden Mocked Over ‘Ocean Train’ Gaffe “I’m Gonna Get In Trouble”
To fund this solar plant — which is a partnership between the Angolan government, and U.S.-based firms AfricaGlobal Schaffer and Sun Africa — the U.S. Export-Import (EXIM) Bank on June 1 approved for a $900 million loan.
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The EXIM Bank is an independent agency within the Executive Branch of the United States, which means the president does not directly control it.
The agency is nonetheless backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, and charged with issuing loans to firms that “the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept” to support U.S. businesses abroad, according to its website.
“We are proud to take part in this important project, which will increase access to electricity in Angolan communities using clean energy technology,” EXIM President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis said in the bank’s statement. “This transaction not only aligns with President Biden’s [Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment] initiative, but also advances EXIM’s efforts to promote clean energy exports, strengthen the U.S.-Africa commercial relationship and support U.S. exporters and American workers facing foreign competition.”
The president contrasted the U.S. investment in the African nation with China’s Belt and Road Initiative — an effort by China to invest in foreign infrastructure — which he dubbed the “debt and destruction initiative.” He said his administration would “help” Africa before concluding his remarks on China by saying “I could go on, but I’m not. I’m going off script, I’m going to get in trouble.”
China currently dominates the supply chain for minerals necessary for green projects like electric vehicle batteries and solar panels, thanks in large part to its control of mines located in Africa.
The Biden administration has blocked several U.S. mining projects that would expand domestic access to such materials, drawing the ire of members of the industry, who say U.S. mining could help reduce the nation’s reliance on Chinese materials.
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Biden on Wednesday also repeated an inaccurate government estimate of the cost of the IRA, his marquee climate law, which he claimed was a $369 billion investment by the federal government, seemingly citing a 2022 estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
This initial government estimate was predicated on the assumption that tax credits for green energy and manufacturing firms would cost roughly $270 billion, but private analysts now estimate that the cost of such credits could easily eclipse $1 trillion.
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